$1 million Driehaus grant will help revive historic Sears garden

A 100-foot-long pergola would be restored under a $1 million grant by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation as part of efforts to revive a North Lawndale garden built more than a century ago by Sears. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Demetrius Barbee and her husband Douglas moved to North Lawndale nearly 30 years ago, beckoned there in part by the West Side neighborhood’s architecture.

But the public sunken garden on the north side of Homan Avenue just east of Arthington Street helped cinch the deal.